By John L. Allen Jr.
Rijeka, Croatia

A top Vatican official has said that Palestinians expelled from their property in what is today Israel following conflicts in 1948 and 1967 have the right to return, or at least to be compensated for their loss.

"If you expel me from my home, then in justice you need to let me come back, or at least give me something," said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's Secretary of State.

Sodano suggested that Europeans have a special sensitivity to the question, since at various points of the 20th century Poles, Germans, French and Italians have been driven from areas traditionally considered theirs.

Sodano also suggested that in order to bring peace to the Middle East, Israel will have to sacrifice at least some of its settlements in the occupied territories. He said that a "Gruyere state" for the Palestinians is unacceptable, referring to a kind of cheese full of holes - a metaphor for the settlements.

Both comments reflect standing Vatican positions, but were delivered in unusually frank terms.

Sodano's comments came aboard a catamaran carrying Pope John Paul II and his entourage from the airport in Krk to the island of Rijeka. He took questions on international affairs for the better part of a half-hour.

Asked by NCR if U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had pressed the Vatican for a concrete commitment on Jerusalem in his meetings last Monday at the Vatican, Sodano responded, "We're the ones who should be asking for a commitment from him."

Sodano reiterated the Vatican's long-standing position in favor of international jurisdiction for the holy sites in Jerusalem.

NCR also asked Sodano if he believes the U.S. commitment to the so-called "road map" for peace in the Middle East is genuine.

"In international diplomacy, you have to take people at their word," Sodano said. "They tell us they are committed, so we accept that they are committed. I believe there is hope."

In a freewheeling reflection on Christianity and Islam, Sodano acknowledged that the Arab world is a "little unknown to us," but said there are encouraging examples of a "tolerant, dialogue-ready Islam" in various places around the globe.

He cited the example of Senegal, where he said that on the occasion of John Paul's February 1992 trip, the president, a Muslim, praised the pope "in extravagant terms that heads of state in the West would not be able to use."

Sodano also pointed to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, where at one stage four ministers of the federal government, including the defense minister, were Christians. He acknowledged, however, that Christian/Muslim relations have deteriorated in recent months.

"This tolerant, dialogue-ready Islam still has to arrive in the Arab world," Sodano said.

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